# New Grill/Smoker



## chris1360 (Mar 15, 2012)

I am a smoking/grilling fanatic. I usually grill out just about every day that I am not working. I have been using a cheapo kettle grill for about 7 years, and have been researching going with a bigger set up. My dear gracious grandmother loves my smoked ribs, boston butt, and chicken wings. So for my wedding present she decided to suprise me with the grill/smoker combo I have been saving up to buy. Here is it:










It is a Char Griller Smoking Pro grill with a side fire box. I got it all put together last night. Sealed all the openings and holes with VHT red gasket. I have a few mods to complete before I light it up. I will be adding a charcoal holding basket in the fire box, extending the smoke stack down to grate level, adding a digital thermometer, and making a heat diffusion plate for the bottom of the cooking chamber. As I work on the modifications, I will update this post, and of course lots of pics!


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## E Dogg (Mar 23, 2011)

Nice:thumb: 

So you crazy bbq'ers and smokers modify your grills? They aren't good enough as is? Never heard of "sealing" the thing up before.


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## Michigan_Moose (Oct 11, 2011)

That is bad ass.


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## David_ESM (May 11, 2011)

Someone was just talking about picking that same model up in puff chat the other day, off Craigslist. Looked like a good choice then and it looks like a better one now that there is a decent photo of it. Nice. :thumb:


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## IBEW (Jan 17, 2009)

Very nice, looks great!
Please do post up your progress, I'm looking forward to seeing it.


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## Kevin Keith (Jan 24, 2010)

You're gonna love it Chris! I've had one for years and they're great. God bless your Grandma!


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## Kswicky (Apr 14, 2012)

I missed picking one of these up on CL by 30 minutes last month 

Congrats to you and for the wonderfully thoughtful lady!


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## chris1360 (Mar 15, 2012)

E Dogg said:


> Nice:thumb:
> 
> So you crazy bbq'ers and smokers modify your grills? They aren't good enough as is? Never heard of "sealing" the thing up before.


Oh yes modding is the fun part of getting a new grill. The reason for sealing it up is too help stabilize the temp in the cooking chamber, and to help keep the fire box from leaking heat, or catching a wind draft and increasing the cooking temp. I want this thing to remain steady at 225 degrees all the time, and for long peroids since it takes a while to smoke some meats. Burgers and steaks smoke for an hour, ribs and chicken two-three hours, and pork butt / shoulders take 10-12 hours. The other mods I am doing is to help elminate hot spots in the cooking chamber so the temps and smoke will be nice and even all the way through.

My mouth is watering already thinking about what to cook first.


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## skfr518 (Jul 4, 2011)

I am slightly turned on right now as I did the exact same mods when I had mine. I eventually had to use the gasket off a wood stove to keep the heat in the main chamber because the metal was so thin.


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## chris1360 (Mar 15, 2012)

skfr518 said:


> I am slightly turned on right now


You???? I had a freaking mini chub when I got this thing put together! I am going the same route with the oven gasket. I have an appliance repair shop not to far from my house that sells it by the foot!


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## android (Feb 27, 2012)

right on Chris, looks good man! mods are half the fun!


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## chris1360 (Mar 15, 2012)

Thanks Andrew


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## chris1360 (Mar 15, 2012)

Went to Lowes today and grabbed almost everything I need to start my mods. Here is the list:

1. Section of 3'' aluminum dryer vent
2. Two sections of expanded steel
3. Two pieces of sheet metal
4. One 3'' clamp
5. JB Weld
6. One wire coat hanger

And here it is ready to get started in my kitchen!









Total cast was about 54 bucks.


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## chris1360 (Mar 15, 2012)

My first mod was to build the charcoal basket for the fire box.

I used two 24''x12'' pieces of expanded steel. I measured 6 inches from each end (longways) and draw a strait line across.









Then I used the flat edge of my counter to push and bend the corners up forming the bottom and sides of the basket.


















Then this is what I had... the bottom and two sides.









I did the exact same thing for the other piece, and now I have this









I then placed one piece inside the other forming the basket.









I cut about 4-5'' pieces of wire coat hanger to use as a binder to hold the sides together.









I weaved the coat hanger pieces through the expanded steel and used two pair of pliers to bend them into place.









I then cut off the excess, and repeated the same procedure two times on each corner.









And now I have a perfect, and cheap charcoal basket. i will use the minion method mostly to smoke. I place a pile of unlit charcoal in the bottom of the basket, and light a chimney full of hot burning coals. I pour the burning coals onto the unlit charcoal, and it burns down through, nice and slow, and at a steady temperature.









All finished and installed.


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## chris1360 (Mar 15, 2012)

The next mod was to make a heat deflection plate, or a baffle.

This is what the inside of the cooking chamber looks like.









I laid down the bigger piece of sheet metal (24''x12'') longways inside the cooking chamber, forming my channel for the heat to go through.









I used a piece of card board to make a template for the baffle to cover the opening to the fire box, and connect to the channel.









I used the template to cut out the smaller piece of sheet metal (24''x6''). I know it is a little off on the sides, but thats ok.... nothing a little JB weld cant fix.









Then I squeezed out equal parts of JB Weld onto a piece of card board. In case anyone is wondering, JB weld can handle temps in the 500 degree range. ill be smoking at 200-225, so Im not worried about it melting.









I thoroughly mixed the JB weld together until it was a solid grey color.









I lightly sanded and cleaned all the edges that I would be applying the JB weld to. Then I used an old screw driver to put on a nice thick coat of JB weld around all the edges.









Its going to have to dry for 24-48 hours, but here is the finished product.









I made the baffle at a steep angle for this reason: I still want to be able to use the cooking chamber as a grill sometimes for kabobs, and burgers and such. And The charcoal pan fit just fine!


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## chris1360 (Mar 15, 2012)

The last mod of the day was to extend the chimney down to grate level. I am going to move it to the opposite side of the grill so that the heat will flow evenly across the entire cooking area, and remain at a steadier temp for even cooking.

I took the 3'' flexible vent pipe and the 3'' clamp and attached it to the current chimney/smoke stack.









I stretched and bent it into place how I wanted it.









Then I drilled a hole into the side of the pipe so that I could bolt it to the hood. 









And then bolted it in with one of the extra bolts I had from the box the grill came in. This thing isnt going to move ever!









And thats all the mods for today. Soon I will be adding the oven gasket to the edge of the hood, and getting this thing seasoned for the first cook!
Hope everyone enjoyed my how to ******* your brand new grill thread!

Here is how the grill/smoker stands in my living room until completion.


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## Bad Finger (Jan 5, 2011)

I love mine! I ended up with the Duo grill, instead of the other ( found it 50% off at Lowes at the beginning of the year), and have made very similiar mods. I have the heat shield in the bottom of mine, also did the hole filling and gasket schmegma work, but haven't yet made a wood box for the fire box.

One thing that I have been meaning to do is to make a U-Turn pipe that fits on my smoke stack and will allow the smoke to travel through, and back into the gas section for further smoking that might be needed. I'll post pics when it's done!










6am, last weekend.


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## chris1360 (Mar 15, 2012)

Looks good Clancey. What kind of charcoal is that. I have tried several different kinds over the years, and I find kingsford burns the best for me. Topped with bits of hickory and mesquite.


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## wacbzz (Aug 19, 2007)

This is a great setup, Chris. I used to have the main box that you have and loved every minute grilling on it. I only got rid of it after the bottom finally rusted out. I'm back to Weber kettles now - I've never lost one of those to rust. 

We need to see some photos of that thing in action - with some smokes, of course!!


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## Beer Alchemist (Aug 17, 2011)

I gotta respect a guy who gets a new toy and mods it before ever using it. Another resource for gaskets that a lot of us homebrewers use is McMaster Carr. A couple of my co-workers just got that same unit and have been really happy...just looked over at my neighbors last night and it looks like he brought one of them home too. Enjoy.


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## chris1360 (Mar 15, 2012)

wacbzz said:


> This is a great setup, Chris. I used to have the main box that you have and loved every minute grilling on it. I only got rid of it after the bottom finally rusted out. I'm back to Weber kettles now - I've never lost one of those to rust.
> 
> We need to see some photos of that thing in action - with some smokes, of course!!


Hope to get this thing finished up this week. Seasoned and ready to go for my batchelor party next weekend. I will absolutely take pics and how could I grill for hours without a cigar!!!



Beer what is this gasket stuff you are talking about?. I am open to suggestiosnsAlchemist said:


> I gotta respect a guy who gets a new toy and mods it before ever using it. Another resource for gaskets that a lot of us homebrewers use is McMaster Carr. A couple of my co-workers just got that same unit and have been really happy...just looked over at my neighbors last night and it looks like he brought one of them home too. Enjoy.


What is this gasket stuff you are talking about? I am open to suggestions. Thanks for the compliments. I love modding things and this was fun and easy. After this project is wrapped up it will be time to start planning out the man shed


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## Bad Finger (Jan 5, 2011)

Tip to keep your grill from rusting:


Spray the inside liberally with cooking spray after it cools down for storage. It stops moisture in the air from making contact with the metal, and keeps it protected.


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## chris1360 (Mar 15, 2012)

Thanks Clancy. I usually do that, bu I get lazy sometimes. I know with the cast iron I am not going to have a choice!

Been missing vherfing with ya. Work has been crazy and have not had much time to get on.


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## Beer Alchemist (Aug 17, 2011)

chris1360 said:


> What is this gasket stuff you are talking about? I am open to suggestions. Thanks for the compliments. I love modding things and this was fun and easy. After this project is wrapped up it will be time to start planning out the man shed


High temp silicone rubber. They sell it in various forms such as high temp sheets good to 500 degrees and the standard stuff is good to 400. So, it really depends on where you are using it on your smoker as far as if it will work for your purposes.


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## chris1360 (Mar 15, 2012)

I already used the hi temp silicone to seal up all the bolt holes, and small gaps. What I have to do now is seal the large gaps where the lid/hood meets the bottom of the grill. I was thinking of something like an oven gasket. I may just leave it, and see how it does.


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## abhoe (Feb 29, 2012)

Right on Chris! Can't wait to see some of that handiwork put to task on some food!


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## chris1360 (Mar 15, 2012)

Thanks Baine. Should be getting some grill time in this weekend! Can't wait. Trying to pick out a great smoke to go with the good food I am going to cook!


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## chris1360 (Mar 15, 2012)

Well I finally got around to seasoning the smoker last night. I wiped every thing down with a liberal coat of vegetable oil, loaded up the fire box and got it burning good. After throwing a a few hickory chunks on the charcoal to see how the smoke would hold, I saw that the lid and bottom of the cooking chamber are leaking BAD!. SMoke was pouring out of the non-existant seal between the lid and lower section. Other than that I held temps rock solid, even with high winds. I was able to get it down to 220 with no issues for about 4 hours with a small amount of charcoal.

Now I really have to go find some type of gasket for the lids, and get this thing cooking. I am planning on finishing this over the weekend, and cooking on monday! Pics will follow!


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